Nintendo Switch 2 sales in Japan fell by 87% after a surge prior to the May 25 price increase.
According to Famitsu (via VGC), last week’s data showed that Switch 2 hardware sales dropped to 31,751 units, a fall of 87% from the week prior.
In the three weeks before May 25, Switch 2 sales surged to more than 200,000 units each week, driven by reports in early May of the impending price increase. Before the announcement of the price hike, weekly sales ranged from 44,000 to 52,000 units.
On May 25, the price of the Japanese-language Switch 2 system rose from ¥49,980 ($312) to ¥59,980 ($374). The cost of the multilanguage system remained unchanged.
The original Switch also received a price increase on May 25, from ¥32,978 to ¥43,980. In the six weeks before the announcement, the original Switch model sold 3,000 to 8,000 units per week. Last week, sales dropped to 229 units, trailing the Xbox Series X.
In addition to the changes in Japan, Switch 2 system pricing will be adjusted in the US, Canada, and Europe starting September 1, 2026.
Nintendo stated that the decision to raise hardware prices was due to current market conditions.
“If the increase in costs were seen as something temporary that would subside relatively soon, then we could have pursued other options, such as working to improve productivity and expand the installed base while maintaining hardware prices,” said Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa.
“Unfortunately, the recent surge in memory and other component prices […] and trends in the foreign exchange market and the price of oil, are all factors that we anticipate will continue over the medium to long term.”
Furukawa continued: “We felt that the profitability of our hardware would suffer significantly if we maintained our existing pricing, potentially impacting our business operations over this time frame.
“For the sustained growth of our dedicated video game platform business, it is important to maintain a healthy earnings structure for our overall business. For this reason, we made the difficult decision to reflect a portion of our costs in the selling price.”
This article has been updated to clarify the 87% fall.
